Federal raids intensify in Chicago amid deadly incident and public outcry

Federal agents expand immigration raids in Chicago. Hands Off Chicago poll shows majority of residents oppose federal immigration enforcement in the city.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - The federal government is significantly ramping up immigration enforcement in the Chicago area as a specialized federal law enforcement team arrived in Chicago on Tuesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino posted a video on social media announcing his specialized team has arrived in Chicago to “continue the mission we started in Los Angeles.”

Kristi Noem in Chicago with ICE — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with one of two men being processed by Homeland Security officials during a visit to Springfield on May 7, 2025.

At the same time, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video of herself participating in an early morning immigration raid reportedly at a house in Elgin , where the Chicago Tribune reported an American citizen was briefly detained. “President Trump has been clear: if politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will,” Noem said in a statement. “I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down.”

The enhanced immigration enforcement began earlier this month and has been dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Bovino said he is leading a separate CBP plan called “Operation At Large.” It’s not clear what, if any, difference there is between the operations.

The operations have not been strictly limited to Chicago. Residents have reported seeing federal agents in several suburbs. How long the operations will last also remains unclear. Illinois officials say they have been left almost entirely in the dark about federal agents’ work.

Gov. JB Pritzker said federal officials are not communicating with Illinois law enforcement groups, which he argued is making their work more dangerous.

“When they (local law enforcement) see skirmishes going on, they don't know if those are real ICE officials, especially if they're wearing masks and in unmarked cars and aren't carrying or showing their identification,” Pritzker said Tuesday.

Illinois law prohibits law enforcement from participating in civil immigration enforcement, but it does not outright ban communication between state and federal agencies.

Tense encounters

DHS’ work has already turned deadly after an ICE agent shot and killed a man last week in Franklin Park. The undocumented man, who CBS News reported has no criminal history beyond traffic violations, allegedly tried to flee from ICE agents during a traffic stop and struck and dragged an agent in the process, causing serious injury, according to DHS. Federal authorities said that prompted an agent to shoot and kill the man.

DHS has released little information about the shooting, prompting calls for answers by state leaders. Pritzker pointed out Monday that Illinois law enforcement agencies would have already released substantial information and began investigations had the incident been an officer-involved shooting.

“This is the most unusual situation I’ve seen in my entire lifetime where we have no transparency and the federal government is not policing itself,” Pritzker said Monday.

Trump had previously backed off sending the Guard to Chicago because Pritzker refused to ask the president for a deployment.

Some public officials have directly confronted DHS agents. State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, posted a video Monday showing her approaching masked federal agents in SUVs in a West Chicago neighborhood. Villa, a candidate for comptroller, was seen running down the street telling people to hide in their homes.

Crowds have also gathered in protest outside a Broadview detention facility where ICE is holding people in custody. The protests have occasionally devolved into skirmishes with ICE tactical teams as protesters have blocked entries and exits into the facility.

The Hands Off Chicago coalition of groups opposing ICE and National Guard soldiers in Chicago released a poll Wednesday showing Chicagoans largely oppose the Trump administration’s immigration tactics. The poll conductedlast week by Public Policy Polling of 582 registered Chicago voters found 66% oppose federal immigration enforcement and 73% believe President Donald Trump is threatening to send the National Guard to Chicago for political reasons.

Trump reconsidering National Guard

After initially backing off sending the National Guard to Chicago in favor of an apparent crime-focused mission in Memphis, Trump has again pledged that Chicago will be the next city to see a National Guard deployment.

Trump had previously backed off sending the Guard to Chicago because Pritzker refused to ask the president for a deployment, but Trump now says he will do it anyway. The Constitution places significant limits on the federal government to send the U.S. military into a city for police action without a request by the governor or mayor.

State leaders have encouraged people protesting immigration enforcement to remain peaceful ...

Pritzker told reporters Tuesday he is done trying to guess what Trump will do as the pair continues to exchange barbs through TV cameras.

“I think he might be suffering from some dementia,” Pritzker said. “You know, the next day he'll wake up on the other side of the bed and stop talking about Chicago. So I've never really counted on anything that he said as real.”

State leaders have encouraged people protesting immigration enforcement to remain peaceful as they fear Trump will use any skirmishes with law enforcement as justification to deploy the National Guard.

Meanwhile, immigration advocacy groups are encouraging residents to know their rights, such as what types of warrants require them to open the door to police, and their right to an attorney if detained.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

TAGGED: Chicago immigration raids, ICE operations Chicago, Trump immigration Chicago, DHS enforcement Chicago, National Guard Chicago deployment

Illinois seeks to prevent feds from tying funding for states to immigration enforcement

Raoul has seen some success in the more than a dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and 19 other Democratic attorneys general filed a pair of lawsuits Tuesday against Trump administration policies designed to block federal funding to states that don’t carry out U.S. immigration enforcement.

According to the lawsuits, recently enacted policies at the U.S. departments of Homeland Security and Transportation illegally tie grant funding for items such as natural disaster recovery and road construction to whether the state participates in federal immigration enforcement. The attorneys general say the goal of the policies is to illegally force states to carry out federal immigration responsibilities.

“This FEMA and transportation funding has nothing to do with immigration,” Raoul said during a news conference. “However, it has everything to do with the safety of our residents after natural disasters and as they travel our roads, railways and in the sky.”

Under the 2017 TRUST Act signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, Illinois law enforcement is prohibited from arresting and, in most cases, detaining a person based solely on their immigration status or assisting immigration officials. State law does not protect people in Illinois from deportation, and federal officers can still make arrests and deport people in Illinois.

The federal policy is illegal, according to the attorneys general, because Congress controls spending and executive branch agencies cannot withhold appropriations allocated by Congress. Furthermore, they argue the states cannot be coerced into enforcing federal immigration laws.

President Donald Trump has signed executive orders designed to cut off federal funding to “sanctuary” states like Illinois. The U.S. Department of Justice also sued Illinois in February over the TRUST Act.

“The administration seeks to jeopardize readiness for disasters and safe roads to try to force Illinois law enforcement officers to shift their focus away from addressing serious crime in our communities in order to instead do the federal government’s job of civil immigration enforcement,” Raoul said.

Billions of dollars of federal funding could be at risk for Illinois, Raoul said. This includes $122 million Illinois received last year for disaster recovery, $2 billion for highways, $60 million for counterterrorism, and $24 million to protect nonprofits from attacks by extremists.

Raoul has seen some success in the more than a dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration

“At a time when the disaster relief and transportation needs of this country are significant, we deserve to know our federal agencies are focused on the welfare of all of us,” Raoul said.

The lawsuits come a week after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited Illinois to criticize the state’s “sanctuary” policies. “This governor has bragged about Illinois being a firewall against President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda, and it is very clear that he is violating the constitution of the United States because it is a federal law that the federal government set and enforce immigration policies,” Noem said.

Raoul also argued the federal government has never before allocated funding based on whether a state agrees with the president’s political agenda.

No states have lost funding so far as a result of these policies, but it’s “imminent,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. He did not say why the lawsuits were filed in Rhode Island federal court, which is where Democratic attorneys general have filed many other lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Raoul has seen some success in the more than a dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration his office is involved in. A federal judge in New York last week issued a preliminary injunction blocking a U.S. Department of Education effort to cut off some federal funding to states, giving Illinois access to $77 million.

Illinois has also joined other lawsuits to prevent the Department of Education from being dismantled, ensure the state continues to have access to various types of federal funding, and prevent the federal government from limiting birthright citizenship among others.

The cases appear to be straining his offices’ resources, however, as Raoul is asking state lawmakers to increase funding for his office by $15 million this year to hire more attorneys.

Illinois Governor signs bill enacting immigrant protections in and around state courthouses

New Illinois law protects people attending court, making them “privileged from civil arrest inside state courthouses and within a 1,000-foot buffer zone outside of the buildings.

by Brenden Moore
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Christening it as part of a “nation-leading” response to aggressive federal immigration raids, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday allowing Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who arrest them in or near courthouses or if they believe their constitutional rights were violated.

The new law — which lawmakers have acknowledged is likely to face a legal challenge — also requires public colleges and universities, hospitals and child care facilities to set up policies for dealing with immigration enforcement and mostly prohibits them from disclosing the immigration status of students, patients, parents and children.

“Together, we're sending a message to Donald Trump, to Kristi Noem, to Gregory Bovino and anyone else seeking to terrorize our people: Your divisiveness and your brutality are not welcome here,” Pritzker said, surrounded by state lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.

“We know that this new set of laws can't mitigate all of the harm, but it gives us new protective tools and is a symbol of our shared action against those terrorizing, our communities and our state,” Pritzker said.

Response to ‘Midway Blitz’

The Democrat-led state legislature passed the bill in late October during the height of the federal immigration enforcement campaign known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”

Our rights follow us into the courthouse, onto campus, to the hospital and when taking our kids to day care

The Department of Homeland Security said the operation, which launched in September and wound down last month, resulted in the arrest of more than 3,000 immigrants who were living in Chicago and its suburbs without legal permission.

Though federal officials claimed they were targeting the “worst of the worst,” DHS data indicates that most arrested had no prior criminal convictions or pending charges.

The raids often led to violent confrontations between masked federal agents and protestors during various operations in the city and suburbs, including near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in suburban Broadview. Many of these skirmishes resulted in the deployment of tear gas and other chemical agents.

Bovino and about 200 Border Patrol agents under his command left Chicago for southern states last month, though they could be back fourfold this March, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the law “sends the message that if you abuse your authority, there are consequences.”

“Our rights follow us into the courthouse, onto campus, to the hospital and when taking our kids to day care,” Harmon said. “No one gets to take them away. We are providing the victims of this chaotic federal assault a clear, legal path to go after their abusers and hold them accountable.”

With Pritzker’s signature, all people attending court are considered “privileged from civil arrest” inside state courthouses and within a 1,000-foot buffer zone outside of the buildings.

Illinois Republicans have criticized the provision, arguing that it would have unintended consequences for state and local law enforcement.

Though there had long been a de facto understanding that such facilities were off-limits for immigration enforcement, they have increasingly been the site of apprehensions over the past year. Those who violate the act could be liable for statutory damages of $10,000.

It gives people arrested under those circumstances the right to sue the agents who detained them.

Criticisms and potential challenge

The law also allows residents to sue immigration agents for violating their constitutional right to due process and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

They would be able to collect punitive damages that can increase if the agents are wearing masks, concealing their identities, failing to wear body cameras or using a vehicle with a non-Illinois or obscured license plate.

Illinois Republicans have criticized the provision, arguing that it would have unintended consequences for state and local law enforcement. It also likely invites a legal challenge from the Trump Administration on the grounds that it violates the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLauglin told Capitol News Illinois in an emailed statement that Pritzker “must be unfamiliar with the U.S. Constitution.”

“By signing this law, Pritzker violated the supremacy clause, his oath he took as governor to ‘support the Constitution of the United States’ — which itself falls under the oaths clause of the Constitution,” McLaughlin said. “We hope the headlines, social media likes, and fundraising emails he did this for are worth it!”

Harmon acknowledged in October that the law would likely be challenged, though Pritzker — one of Trump’s most pugnacious critics and seen as a potential 2028 Democratic candidate for president — said Tuesday that he believed it to be “in good shape.”

“Whenever you enact something that is tough, that is about protecting people, there are going to be people out there who attack it,” Pritzker said. “No doubt they have the ability to go to court about it. But I believe this is not just a good law, but a great law.”

Day cares, colleges and hospitals

The law requires all general acute care hospitals to implement a policy for interactions with law enforcement by Jan. 1. All other hospitals need a plan in place by March 1.

The law also prohibits day care centers from sharing the immigration status of children or parents unless required by law.

Illinois colleges and universities will need to have procedures in place for approving requests from law enforcement agents attempting to enter campus by the new year.

The law also prohibits day care centers from sharing the immigration status of children or parents unless required by law. It also requires the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Illinois Department of Early Childhood to provide “know your rights” materials and preparedness plans to families on their websites.

Day cares will also need to adopt plans for interacting with law enforcement agents and notifying parents if agents request a child’s information. State Rep. Norma Hernandez, D-Melrose Park, said that the fatal shooting of unarmed father and Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas González in September by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer after dropping off his two young sons at school and day care in the Chicago area “reminds us why this law matters so deeply.”

“His death was not an isolated tragedy,” Hernandez said. “It is a painful reminder that without strong protections, everyday life becomes a place of danger, and that is where we are right now.”

In addition to the law, Pritzker signed an executive order in October creating the Illinois Accountability Commission, which has been tasked with producing a public record of alleged abuses perpetrated by federal agents during “Operation Midway Blitz.”

It will also examine the impact of such conduct on Illinois residents and communities and offer recommendations for accountability and reform.

TAGS: Illinois send message to Donald Trump, New law prohibits university and hospitals from telling ICE immigration status, Illinois courthouse bill passed in October, 3,000 immigrants without status arrested in Illinois, Law gives people the right to sue customs agents

Illinois Governor condemns Trump deployment of National Guard amid ICE Raids

President Trump has ordered 300 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago, overriding Gov. JB Pritzker’s objections. The deployment coincides with ICE raids and recent local shootings in the city.

by Hannah Meisel & Andrew Adams
Capitol News Illinois

After weeks of threatening to do so, President Donald Trump is taking command of 300 Illinois National Guard troops and sending them to Chicago over Gov. JB Pritzker’s objections, the governor announced Saturday.

“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said in a statement. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.”

A few dozen protestors and reporters gathered outside an immigration enforcement facility in Broadview on Saturday, Oct. 4. The facility has become a focal point of protest since ICE officials expanded their immigration enforcement in Chicagoland.

The promised deployment comes as federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, activity has ramped up in Chicago and its suburbs as part of “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has so far resulted in more than 800 arrests according to the Department of Homeland Security.

There have also been two shootings, including one Saturday on the city’s Southwest Side.

Though the Trump administration insists ICE is targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds, reports have mounted of agents arresting those with no history of illegal activity, detaining children along with their parents and even handcuffing U.S. citizens. Immigrant and civil rights groups have alleged ICE is arresting people without warrants in violation of a federal consent decree.

The wave of raids and arrests has spurred large protests in recent weeks, especially outside of an ICE processing center in Broadview, a suburb eight miles west of Chicago. The demonstrations have spurred clashes between immigration agents and activists, leading to the arrests of several protestors last weekend on charges of resisting and assaulting officers. Agents have sprayed chemical agents and fired nonlethal rounds into the crowds outside the facility.

I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois

On Monday, Pritzker announced DHS was seeking 100 Illinois National Guard troops to protect ICE facilities and immigration agents in Illinois, warning the Trump administration would use any confrontation resulting from its Chicago-area immigration crackdown as a “pretext” for a military deployment.

On Saturday, the governor called the administration’s National Guard activation a ”manufactured performance” and not about protecting public safety.

“I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois,“ Pritzker said, pointing to the Illinois State Police’s announcement this week that it had joined forces with Broadview Police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office to form a “Unified Command” to coordinate law enforcement activity outside the ICE facility.

One of ISP’s first acts in Broadview was designating demonstration areas, also known as “free speech zones.” Pritzker on Saturday said the combined efforts of state and local law enforcement protected “people’s ability to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights.”

Protestors and reporters at Broadview ICE facility — Protestors and reporters gathered outside an immigration enforcement facility in Broadview on Saturday, Oct. 4.

The Unified Command reported the arrests of at least five protesters on Friday, and five more on Saturday night, as of 8 p.m. The area was quiet Saturday afternoon with only about a dozen protesters gathered, at times outnumbered by members of the media.

“I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people,” the governor said in his statement.

But shortly before Pritzker’s announcement about the National Guard deployment Saturday, a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot a woman in an altercation between immigration agents and protesters on Chicago’s Southwest Side.

According to reporting from the Chicago Sun-Times, the woman was alleged to have been driving one of 10 cars that “rammed” and “boxed in” nearly three dozen immigration agents in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood. Agents fired “defensive shots” when they saw the woman was allegedly “armed with a semi-automatic weapon,” according to the paper. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The woman was one of two people charged by federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois with using their vehicles to "assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago."

Trump and Pritzker have spent weeks trading barbs over the president’s threats to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, with the governor alleging Trump’s apparent backing off from the idea last month was a sign of dementia.

The governor has already vowed legal action against the Trump administration if and when the president activated the National Guard. After the president sent 1,400 National Guard troops to Los Angeles this summer — the first time since the 1960s that the feds deployed the National Guard without a governor’s consent — a federal judge last month ruled the move violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the power of the federal government to use military force for domestic matters. But the ruling only applies to California.

The National Guard’s presence in Los Angeles has dwindled to roughly 250, but there are still a couple thousand troops on assignment in Washington, D.C., where the federal government has more power over law enforcement. Since their August deployment to the nation’s capital, guardsmen have been reportedly picking up garbage, as they are only authorized to assist with arrests if asked by local law enforcement.

Trump has also threatened to federalize the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, though troops had not yet been sent as of Saturday evening. Tennessee’s Republican governor has welcomed the president’s recent suggestion that he’d deploy guardsmen to Memphis, but that has also yet to happen.

Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, Washington, D.C. and Shelby County, Tennessee, where Memphis is situated, have all adopted so-called “sanctuary city” policies wherein local law enforcement are barred from assisting in federal immigration enforcement. Trump has targeted cities and states that have adopted such laws, and last week a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled the administration cannot withhold emergency funding from Illinois and other states based on those states’ refusal to participate in immigration enforcement.

...masked federal agents deployed a chemical irritant ...

But this week, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he learned of another attempt by the White House to divert disaster relief funding from Illinois with four days remaining in the fiscal year “without any notice or explanation.”

Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited Illinois again on Friday. Noem has traveled to the Chicago area and Springfield several times this year, including last month when she oversaw an early morning raid in Elgin, where at least one U.S. citizen was arrested. “Secretary Noem should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois without any form of public accountability,” Pritzker said in a statement.

On Friday, Noem appeared with Gregory Bovino, commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol, at the Broadview ICE facility with a camera crew, according to Chicago’s ABC 7.

Late Friday, Pritzker also said he’s making state resources available to people affected by a Sept. 30 raid on a South Shore apartment building.

In Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, masked federal agents deployed a chemical irritant outside of a grocery store as people and cars lined up to block their advancement, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, condemned the action, which happened around the corner from an elementary school in her district. Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes also alleges she was handcuffed by immigration agents while questioning them at a Humboldt Park medical center.

TAGS: Trump National Guard deployment, Illinois ICE raids, JB Pritzker reaction, Chicago protests, Operation Midway Blitz

Judge rules Illinois cannot be denied federal emergency funds

A federal judge rules that Illinois cannot be denied emergency funding for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

by Ben Szalinski
Capitol News Illinois

Photo: Capitol News Illinois/Andrew Adams

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul discusses a lawsuit against the federal government at a news conference in January 2025.

SPRINGFIELD - The Trump administration cannot withhold federal emergency funding from Illinois because the state refuses to participate in federal immigration enforcement, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January requiring the Department of Homeland Security and agencies under its command, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to stop providing federal funds to states that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

The move was designed to force states like Illinois to abandon laws that prohibit law enforcement from participating in civil immigration enforcement. Trump’s order could have applied to hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding Illinois receives for natural disaster responses and other emergencies. But a judge ruled it unconstitutional after Illinois and other states sued.

“I appreciate the court’s conclusion that DHS’ decision-making process was ‘wholly under-reasoned and arbitrary,’” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “The court’s ruling will ensure vital dollars that states rely on to prepare for and respond to emergencies are not withheld simply for political purposes.”

The 2017 TRUST Act, signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, prohibits Illinois law enforcement from arresting a person based solely on their immigration status. In most cases, law enforcement cannot assist immigration officials with detaining people based solely on immigration status, according to Raoul’s office.

The judge ruled that the order violates the Constitution because Congress controls spending. The attorneys general filed the suit in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island.

“Sweeping immigration-related conditions imposed on every DHS-administered grant, regardless of statutory purpose, lack the necessary tailoring,” U.S. District Judge William E. Smith wrote. “The Spending Clause requires that conditions be ‘reasonably calculated’ to advance the purposes for which funds are expended ... and DHS has failed to demonstrate any such connection outside of a few programs.”

Abortion funding

Raoul also filed a new motion on Wednesday alongside 21 other states and Washington, D.C., that seeks to stop a new federal law from blocking funding to Planned Parenthood and other health care facilities that provide abortion services.

The attorneys general originally filed the lawsuit at the end of July to challenge a provision in congressional Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” that prohibits abortion clinics from using Medicaid funding for reproductive health services for one year.

The attorneys general argue the timeline of the law and details about which providers are included is too vague.

“We are urging the court to halt enforcement of the Defund Provision, which is clearly intended to shutter Planned Parenthood,” Raoul said in a statement. “Planned Parenthood facilities play a key role in our nation’s health and wellness by providing preventative care to more than 1 million Americans.”

The motion comes as Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced Wednesday that it will pause scheduling abortions because of the bill, causing fears for Illinois abortion providers about a surge in demand. Wisconsin Attorney General Joshua Kaul is also part of the lawsuit.

Viewpoint |
Immigrants are our neighbors, isn't that enough?

by Meredith Lehman
OtherWords

I recall seeing a sign in a yard in my small hometown of around 12,000 residents. “No matter where you are from,” it said, “we’re glad you are our neighbor.”

It was positioned defiantly, facing a Trump sign that had been plunged into the neighbor’s yard across the street. It poignantly illustrated the tensions in my rural Ohio town, which — like many similar communities — has experienced a rapid influx of immigrants over the last 20 years.

The sign’s sentiment was simple yet profound. I found myself wondering then, as I wonder now, when compassion had become so complicated. It seems everyone has become preoccupied arguing over the minutiae of immigration that they’ve missed the most glaring and essential point: We are neighbors.

Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, a truth so widely acknowledged that it bridges the ever-growing partisan divide.

While writing this piece, I gathered studies and prepared a detailed analysis of the ways immigrants have transformed and revitalized the economies of the Rust Belt. I was going to explain how immigrants have helped fill vacant housing and industry in this region’s shrinking cities to reverse the toll of population decline.

I gathered statistics showing the economic growth and revitalization that’s happened as immigrants have brought flourishing small businesses to their new communities. Like: Despite making up only around 14 percent of the U.S. population, immigrants own 18 percent of small businesses with employees — and nearly a quarter of small businesses without employees. (And immigrants in Rust Belt cities are even more likely to be entrepreneurs.)

Other Stories ~

“Hands Off” rallies across the nation were patriotism in action

Global Zionist citizenship, an updated anifesto

State Representative says Illinois needs to focus on its citizens

American holiday efficiency, a three-for-one on June 14

Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, a truth so widely acknowledged that it bridges the ever-growing partisan divide. Both Vice President JD Vance and former Vice President Kamala Harris have promoted the critical role of small businesses in economic flourishing.

I was going to tell a story about Joe, a vendor at my local flea market. He and other vendors were heavily averse to migrants purchasing the dilapidated building from the previous owner. Now they laud the building’s new management and improved conditions.

I was going to describe the experiences of my recently immigrated high school peers, who sometimes fell asleep in class from sheer exhaustion after working night shifts at meatpacking plants and attending school for seven hours the next day.

I was going to explain why communities not only benefit from immigrants, but need them.

Without immigrants, I learned, U.S. communities would lose the nearly $1 trillion of state, local, and federal taxes that immigrants contribute annually. This number is almost $300 billion more than immigrants receive in government benefits.

Without immigration, the U.S. working-age population is projected to decline by approximately 6 million over the next two decades — a shift that would carry significant consequences, especially for the Social Security system. Sustained population growth is critical to preserving a balanced ratio of workers contributing to Social Security for every beneficiary receiving support.

As immigration is expected to become the sole driver of U.S. population growth by 2040, restrictive immigration policies threaten to undermine this vital program, as a cornerstone of the American social safety net. With broad public support for strengthening Social Security, embracing immigration is not just beneficial — it is essential to ensuring the program’s long-term stability and success.

I was prepared to comb through every dissent in an effort to prove why our neighbors are deserving of empathy and compassion. But none of these answers address the larger, more urgent question: When did being neighbors cease to be enough?

Most Americans still tell pollsters immigration is good for their communities and reject cruel deportations, especially those that separate families, target people without criminal records, or penalize people who came here as young children. My rural Ohio town, and countless communities like it, are slowly learning the most important lesson about this supposedly complicated issue: Compassion doesn’t need to be complicated.

Meredith Lehman is a research associate at the Institute for Policy Studies. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org

Nationwide protests this weekend sparked by the deaths of Minnesota residents

This weekend's series of protests were inspired by demonstrations in the Minnesota and fueled by outrage over recent fatal shootings by federal agents.

No Kings protest in Urbana

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Demonstrators elicited honks from drivers passing them on Vine Street during last October's No Kings protest in Urbana. No local demonstrations are planned for this weekend's two protest over the recent deaths of Alex Pretti, Renée Good, Silverio Villegas González and Keith Porter Jr. perpetrated by ICE agents.

URBANA - A wave of coordinated protests will sweep across the country this week as organizers push for a nationwide shutdown Friday, followed by demonstrations at federal facilities Saturday. The twin actions, organized by a coalition of immigrant rights groups, labor organizations and student associations is calling for a nationwide protest this week, aim to challenge immigration enforcement practices following the fatal shootings of four people by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Urging people to walk out of work and school and halt consumer spending as part of a coordinated challenge to federal immigration enforcement, a “National Shutdown,” is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30, and calls for “no school, no work and no shopping,” according to organizers. A second day of demonstrations is planned for Saturday, Jan. 31, when protesters are expected to gather outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, ICE field offices, congressional offices and businesses connected to immigration enforcement under the banner “ICE Out of Everywhere.”

Organizers say the protests were inspired by demonstrations in the Twin Cities and fueled by outrage over recent fatal shootings involving federal agents, including the deaths of Alex Pretti, Renée Good, Silverio Villegas González and Keith Porter Jr. Protest leaders argue those incidents highlight what they describe as increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement tactics and a broader erosion of civil liberties.

“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country,” organizers wrote on the NationalShutdown.us website. “To stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to shut it down.”

Organizers framed the moment as a turning point. Calls for participation have spread across social media and online forums, including local subreddits promoting solidarity actions and encouraging residents to refrain from work, school and shopping on Friday. In one post shared on a California-based forum, participants cited Pretti as a “union brother” and described the planned shutdown as a response to what they called government overreach.

Nearly two dozen organizations have formally endorsed the National Shutdown, including the Somali Student Association, Ethiopian Student Association and Black Student Union at the University of Minnesota, the Graduate Labor Union at the University of Minnesota, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, IFCO Pastors for Peace and the ANSWER Coalition. Organizers say hundreds of additional groups, including state and local chapters of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, student organizations and faith-based groups, have expressed support.

The people of Minneapolis "have shown the way for the whole country," according to the NationalShutdown.us website, adding that to halt what they describe as "ICE's reign of terror," Americans must "shut it down."

On Saturday, the advocacy group 50501 is coordinating the “ICE Out of Everywhere” national day of action, which aims to pressure lawmakers to block Department of Homeland Security funding and pursue legislation to dismantle ICE and DHS. The group is also urging local businesses, hotels and service providers to refuse service to ICE, Customs and Border Protection and DHS agents, and is calling for boycotts of hotels that house federal immigration personnel during enforcement operations.

“Elected officials need to publicly take a stand,” 50501 said in a statement, calling for legislation that would permanently remove ICE from communities and reduce federal funding for immigration enforcement agencies.

Organizers say details about local demonstrations and participation opportunities are available at NationalShutdown.us, with additional resources for Saturday’s actions provided through the “ICE Out of Everywhere” campaign.

Federal judge rebukes DOJ over effort to limit future claims against immigration agents

Department of Justice makes the surprise motion to dismiss their case after an appeals court indicated it may not uphold the lower court judge’s order restricting use of force including tear gas and other riot control weapons.

by Hannah Meisel
Capitol News Illinois

CHICAGO - An attorney for the Trump administration on Thursday told a federal judge that it is “wrong to allege” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Chicago-area “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement campaign is over, but declined to give any specifics on when the city may experience another surge of federal agents.

The comment came during a hearing Thursday in front of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on how best to wind down a lawsuit initiated earlier this fall by protesters, clergy and journalists over federal immigration agents’ use of riot control weapons like tear gas. Earlier this week in a surprise move, plaintiffs’ attorneys asked Ellis to dismiss the case.

The people of Chicago stood up to the Trump administration’s bullying and intimidation, and showed them they were messing with the wrong city.

After a marathon hearing last month that included video footage of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino tackling a protester and throwing tear gas canisters into a crowd, Ellis issued a searing ruling granting a preliminary injunction restricting agents’ use of force. But the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals halted Ellis’ order, siding with the Trump administration’s argument that the judge overstepped and “impermissibly” infringed on how the executive branch conducts law enforcement activity.

The appeals court’s stay on Ellis’ order came in the days after Bovino and roughly 200 more Border Patrol agents left Chicago for North Carolina. At the same time, the Trump administration sent home approximately 200 members of the Texas National Guard who’d been flown to Illinois in early October to protect immigration agents but were blocked from deploying by another federal judge’s order.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys used Border Patrol agents’ departure in framing their motion to dismiss as a legal win, without addressing the specter of the 7th Circuit or U.S. Supreme Court gutting Ellis’ order or giving the Trump administration any permanent expanded powers against civilians.

“We won our case the day they left town,” plaintiffs’ attorney David Owens of Loevy & Loevy said in a statement Tuesday. “The people of Chicago stood up to the Trump administration’s bullying and intimidation, and showed them they were messing with the wrong city.”

In response, the administration wrote in a Thursday morning filing that the move was “transparent procedural gamesmanship,” a characterization U.S. Department of Justice attorney Elizabeth Hedges repeated later during the hearing in front of Ellis.

A dismissal of this lawsuit can in no way give defendants a free hall pass to beat up press, protesters, priests months (or) years from now and commit other constitutional violations.

Addressing plaintiffs’ contention that Operation Midway Blitz was over, Hedges said the administration was “pushing back on that as a factual matter.” “We’re making the point that they’re wrong to allege it’s over,” she said. “They’re free to look at news reports and make whatever conclusions on what they want to do in this court.”

But she demurred when Ellis asked whether immigration agents were “returning to Chicago imminently to continue Operation Midway Blitz.” "We’re not committing one way or the other on the future,” Hedges said.

Based on news reports last month that Bovino would return to the Chicago area in the early spring with a much larger contingent of agents, Ellis scheduled a trial in the case for March 2, telling attorneys during a mid-November hearing that, “It would make sense that if it does ramp up again, everyone knows what the rules are.”

But that trial, along with arguments set for later this month in front of the 7th Circuit, will now be canceled.

Hedges also tried to assert that Ellis’ dismissal of the lawsuit would bar members of the public from bringing legal action against the Trump administration alleging possible future violations of their constitutional rights by immigration agents. But plaintiffs’ attorney Craig Futterman of the University of Chicago Law School’s Mandel Legal Aid Clinic disagreed.

"A dismissal of this lawsuit can in no way give defendants a free hall pass to beat up press, protesters, priests months (or) years from now and commit other constitutional violations,” he said. “That’s not how the law works.”

Ellis also told Hedges, “that’s now how the law works.”

“And while it was the government’s position that no agent did anything illegal or unconstitutional, having watched the videos, having read the reports, having listened to the witnesses, I strongly disagree,” the judge said.

TAGS: DOJ response to Operation Midway Blitz lawsuit developments, federal court ruling on immigration agents’ use of force in Chicago, Seventh Circuit actions on Sara Ellis injunction against DHS, legal challenges involving Border Patrol operations in urban protests, Trump administration defense of Operation Midway Blitz continuation

Immigration courts offer many barriers and too few solutions to a complex process

Garcia noted it is a misconception most immigrants speak Spanish. She has heard many other languages, from Arabic to Creole to Mandarin.

courtroom

Photo: Saúl Bucio/Unsplash

by Judith Ruiz-Branch
Illinois News Connection

CHICAGO - As the Trump administration's deportation efforts continue, more people find themselves in immigration court.

Immigration law is complicated, and most immigrants who navigate the court system do so by themselves.

Kelly Garcia, a reporter for Injustice Watch who covers immigration courts in Chicago, said the lack of legal representation and language barriers add to the complexity. Garcia noted almost no one she has encountered in the Chicago court speaks English, yet all the signs and case sheets are in English. Many show up late or miss their hearings because of it.

"If you miss your court hearing, the judge can order your removal," Garcia pointed out. "These barriers have very serious consequences for people - and it's very sad, honestly. It's very sad to witness that."

Garcia noted it is a misconception most immigrants speak Spanish. She has heard many other languages, from Arabic to Creole to Mandarin and said most people do not know they need to request a court interpreter in advance of their hearing or risk having their case delayed. Those who show up late or not at all could be immediately removed from the country.

Research shows those with legal representation fare better in court. But people in immigration court do not have the right to an attorney if they cannot afford one. The burden of proof, to show they were charged incorrectly or request temporary relief through asylum, falls on them.

Groups like the National Immigrant Justice Center and Legal Aid Chicago are on-site to help address some gaps. As the daughter of an immigrant, Garcia emphasized she can relate to the range of emotions she sees in court.

"It just feels very personal to me, because I know how it impacted my mom," Garcia recounted. "I know how hard and difficult that was for her and I also recognize that it's only gotten harder for a lot of people, especially for people who have migrated [from] very dangerous conditions, here."

Garcia added she has seen many people come to the U.S. for reasons beyond their control. She said her time covering the immigration court has prompted her to work on creating an "explainer" story to help answer the many questions she hears from defendants every day.

Other interesting articles:

Viewpoint |
Milwaukee judge faces prison time in a case of judicial humanity

Leaked ICE data shows that 73 percent of people booked into ICE detention this fiscal year have no criminal convictions. Honoring the dignity of immigrants, including those without legal status, is an act of resistance.

by Terry Hansen
Guest Commentary

Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan has been convicted by a federal jury of felony obstruction for directing Eduardo Flores‑Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant, toward a back exit when she learned Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting in the building. If the conviction is upheld, Dugan faces up to five years in prison.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign issued a coalition statement asserting that the conviction sets "a dangerous precedent," and that "This case was never about one individual. It was about whether people can still walk into a courthouse without fear and trust the justice system to protect them."

Notably, leaked ICE data analyzed by the Cato Institute show that 73 percent of people booked into ICE detention this fiscal year have no criminal convictions, nearly half lack even pending charges, and only 5 percent have violent convictions—contradicting claims of targeting “the worst of the worst.”

Legal scholar Samera Esmeir coined the term "juridical humanity," meaning the way law defines who counts as human. Esmeir describes the history of juridical humanity as a "tale about loss," including "the loss of the human to modern law, when the law laid claim to a monopoly over the power to declare the presence of the human."

Applied to Trump-era immigration policy and cases like Judge Dugan’s, it captures how people are rendered “human” only to the extent that they fit a legal status the state recognizes and values.

Current immigration practices embody this concept: threats of denaturalization against “disloyal” citizens and mass deportations to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison—often ignoring due process or torture allegations—relegate migrants to a downgraded humanity.

Law doesn’t just close borders; it manufactures lesser humans.

Congress’ failure to pass immigration reform helps entrench juridical humanity by freezing an outdated legal system and forcing battles over humanity into executive and judicial discretion, instead of democratic lawmaking.

Comprehensive reform has stalled for over two decades, leaving millions in precarious or “liminal” status—the undocumented, Dreamers (DACA), people with Temporary Protected Status, and long-term residents—whose basic life conditions depend on fragile, reversible policies rather than secure legal personhood.

In juridical humanity terms, Congress keeps in place a hierarchy where some people are fully recognized humans (citizens), while others are only partially recognized and can be detained, deported, or excluded with fewer protections because their legal status is unresolved or deliberately kept temporary.

Significantly, this past February, the White House posted a dehumanizing video on X of shackled and downcast detainees boarding airplanes, accompanied by the sounds of jangling chains and the revving of airplane engines. The post was titled "ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight."

ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos use visuals and sound to create a relaxing, tingling sensation that helps viewers de-stress. Elon Musk, then head of the Department of Government Efficiency, retweeted the post, writing “Haha wow,” along with emojis of a troll and a medal.

While the ideological façade of Trump's immigration policies is the protection of U.S. citizens, its goals clearly include humiliation and cruelty.

The Declaration of Independence is prominently displayed behind President Trump’s Oval Office desk. Its ideals proclaim that "all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and that governments are "instituted" only “to secure” these pre-existing rights—not to grant or revoke them.

Honoring the dignity of immigrants, including those without legal status, is an act of resistance, an attempt to reclaim humanity from a restrictive, legally imposed form.

If appellate courts overturn Dugan's conviction, they will keep open a small, vital space where the law can still be forced, by both judges and movements, to acknowledge a humanity it did not create and has no legitimate authority to erase.

Terry Hansen is a retired educator who writes frequently about climate change and on human rights. He lives in Grafton, WIsconsin.

TAGS: US immigration system is outdated, Milwaukee County judge convicted of felony obstruction, people are only human if they have legal status, the law dehumanizes people who don't belong

Viewpoint |
Trump's costly deportation policy producing unwhelming results

Photo: Chad Stembridge/Unsplash

ICE’s stated enforcement goals with publicly available data, highlights the agency’s increasingly militarized presence in urban neighborhoods, and documents the erosion of due process protections.

by Van Abbott

A budget tells a story. It reveals priorities, exposes intentions, and signals how power will be used. The newly expanded budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells a story that should alarm anyone who values fiscal integrity, constitutional limits, and democratic accountability.

In fiscal year 2024, ICE operated on a budget of roughly 10 billion dollars. Under the 2025 “Big Beautiful Bill,” the agency retained that base while receiving an additional 75 billion dollars in multiyear enforcement funding, available over approximately four years. Even if those supplemental funds are spread evenly, ICE now commands effective spending power of about 29 billion dollars annually. This is not an incremental increase. It is a structural transformation. An agency once described as a targeted enforcement body now wields resources approaching those of a national security institution, with little explanation and even less oversight.

The administration insists this surge in funding is about deportation. The observable outcomes suggest otherwise.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, a forced deportation costs approximately 18,000 dollars per person. By contrast, self deportation through the CBP Home app, including airfare, processing, and a cash stipend, costs about 5,100 dollars.

United States citizens are detained and required to prove their citizenship. Detainees report harsh and degrading treatment.

Using limited and unaudited publicly available data, ICE appears to have conducted roughly 300,000 to 330,000 formal forced removals over the past twelve months. In the final Biden administration fiscal year, ICE conducted approximately 271,000 forced removals. Even using the highest current estimate of 330,000, the increase amounts to about 59,000 removals, or roughly 22 percent.

Given the intensity of MAGA rhetoric and the extraordinary budgetary expansion directed at illegal immigration, one would expect a far greater increase in deportations during the first year of Trump’s return to office. That has not occurred.

This disparity raises a fundamental question. Are taxpayers funding effective immigration enforcement, or underwriting a vastly expanded apparatus whose mission now extends far beyond its original purpose? When spending multiplies while outcomes stagnate, and budgets swell while transparency shrinks, skepticism is not partisan. It is prudent.

What makes this moment especially troubling is how ICE now operates inside American cities. In Minneapolis and other urban centers, the agency has effectively occupied neighborhoods through sustained deployments, visible patrols, coordinated raids, and multiple deadly shootings. These actions resemble federal policing campaigns more than immigration enforcement. Streets are saturated with armed agents. Communities report a constant presence. The message is unmistakable. This is not about processing cases. It is about asserting control.

Alongside this urban expansion has come a collapse of constitutional safeguards. Masked agents conduct operations without visible identification. Homes are entered without warrants. Traffic stops occur without clear cause or authority. United States citizens are detained and required to prove their citizenship. Detainees report harsh and degrading treatment. To date, there is no public record of ICE officers being meaningfully disciplined for these actions. Authority expands. Accountability disappears. Due process erodes.

These are not isolated incidents. They reflect an institutional posture increasingly untethered from the rule of law. When agents conceal their identities, bypass judicial oversight, and face no consequences, the result is not enforcement but intimidation. The Constitution does not yield to expediency. Rights do not evaporate because an agency is well funded.

$85 billion dollars and no answers is not merely a budgeting problem.

The human cost is substantial. Raids executed with overwhelming force to apprehend nonviolent individuals traumatize families and destabilize neighborhoods. Faulty intelligence leads to mistaken targets, emotional harm, and property damage that is rarely reimbursed. Children watch parents taken away. Citizens discover that documentation offers no protection when an unaccountable force decides otherwise. Fear becomes routine. Trust becomes impossible.

The budget surge demands a more candid interpretation. A force that is lavishly funded, lightly supervised, and aggressively deployed within cities begins to resemble a national police force rather than an immigration service. It arrests without warrants, detains without explanation, and occupies neighborhoods without consent. It answers upward to executive authority, not outward to the public.

Three questions deserve direct answers. What problem justified a nearly threefold increase in annual spending power? Why do expenditures so dramatically exceed measurable outcomes? Who benefits from an enforcement body that grows more powerful as it grows less accountable?

Democracies rarely fail all at once. They erode through normalized excess, tolerated abuse, and unchecked authority. When budgets explode, rights contract, and accountability vanishes, the warning signs are unmistakable. Eighty five billion dollars and no answers is not merely a budgeting problem. It is a governance crisis.

About the author ~

Van Abbott is a long time resident of Alaska and California. He has held financial management positions in government and private organizations in California, Kansas, and Alaska. He is retired and writes Op-Eds as a hobby. He served in the Peace Corps in the late sixties. You can find more of his commentaries and comments on life in America on Substack.

TAGS: newly expanded budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells a story, one would expect a far greater increase in deportations, how ICE now operates inside American cities, agents conceal their identities, bypass judicial oversight, and face no consequences

Federal raids intensify in Chicago amid deadly incident and public outcry

Tense encounters

Trump reconsidering National Guard

Illinois seeks to prevent feds from tying funding for states to immigration enforcement

Illinois Governor signs bill enacting immigrant protections in and around state courthouses

Response to ‘Midway Blitz’

Criticisms and potential challenge

Day cares, colleges and hospitals

Illinois Governor condemns Trump deployment of National Guard amid ICE Raids

Judge rules Illinois cannot be denied federal emergency funds

Abortion funding

Viewpoint |
Immigrants are our neighbors, isn't that enough?

Nationwide protests this weekend sparked by the deaths of Minnesota residents

Federal judge rebukes DOJ over effort to limit future claims against immigration agents

Immigration courts offer many barriers and too few solutions to a complex process

Viewpoint |
Milwaukee judge faces prison time in a case of judicial humanity

Viewpoint |
Trump's costly deportation policy producing unwhelming results

More Sentinel Stories

Sentinel Prep Sports

Editor's Choice

The rise of U.S. authoritarianism a midwest professor issues warning about popular tactics

On This Day

Photo Galleries

Varsity Snapshot

Search the Sentinel

Top stories this year

Tense encounters

Trump reconsidering National Guard

Response to ‘Midway Blitz’

Criticisms and potential challenge

Day cares, colleges and hospitals

More on Illinois politics

Abortion funding

More Editorial Viewpoints

More Editorial Viewpoints

More Sentinel Stories

Sentinel Prep Sports

Editor's Choice

On This Day

Photo Galleries

Varsity Snapshot

Search the Sentinel

Top stories this year